Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“You need a big one,” he says with a waggle of his eyebrows as he peers over the top of the box at me.
“Pervert,” I grumble affectionately, and back all the way into my living room. Reed’s dressed in a T-shirt and shorts today with a pair of running shoes. His sunglasses are perched on top of his hat’s bill and his hair sticks out from the under the edges. He looks sexy as hell, and I do not mind the way the muscles in his arms and shoulders ripple as he wrestles the TV into my house.
“I should have you move stuff for me more often,” I observe as he squats to set the box down on the floor.
He shoots me a quick grin. “Like what you see, huh?”
“Oh yeah,” I say solicitously. “Like a lot.”
“Well, let’s get this bad boy hooked up and then I’ll do a striptease for you in the bedroom.” His green-gold eyes flash with a mixture of humor and sensuality, and it’s a damn fine look on him.
“Or, you could strip first and hook the TV up while you’re naked,” I suggest. “I’ll just sit on the couch and watch.”
Reed laughs as he starts to rip open the box the TV came in, shaking his head. “If I stripped and you sat over there and had your hot little eyes on me, I’d get nothing accomplished. So I’m preserving our dignity and choosing to remain clothed while I hook up this TV. Besides, I’m dying to see if the quality is as good as promised.”
I roll my eyes as I turn from Reed to head into the kitchen. Such a boy with his toys sometimes.
“Want something to drink?” I call over my shoulder.
“Nah,” he says confidently. “This won’t take me long.”
TWO HOURS LATER…
“Perhaps if you read the instructions,” I suggest hesitantly to Reed as I cover the speaker of my phone that I’m holding up to my ear. He’s hunched over the back of the TV, brow furrowed in extreme concentration as he moves some cables around.
“I’ve got it almost figured out,” he murmurs distractedly, and I have to stifle a laugh, but apparently I don’t do it well enough because my mom—who is on the other line—hears it.
“Is he still fiddling with the TV?” she asks.
We’ve been on the phone for a good fifteen minutes doing our weekly catch-up on each other’s lives. I’ve told her about Reed and how we’ve sort of become an item, but she’s playing it close to the vest. After my sister, Jeanette bailed on the perfect wedding my mom helped plan, she’s afraid to dare to hope.
Reed had no problem getting the TV out of the box and plugging it in. The trouble started when he decided that he should move his Xbox over here, since he’s been staying most nights with me. We sort of fell into that habit over the last few weeks, mainly because of my work schedule. It was just easier for me to be here at my house in the mornings, since I needed to get up early on the days I worked.
There was a slightly more irritating reason, and that’s because some of Reed’s Barbies haven’t quite received the message that he’s off the market. On two occasions when we were at his house, both times fortuitously eating dinner and not having sex, some of his past conquests just showed up at his house without invitation.
The first time I was slightly amused, mostly because it was entertaining to watch Reed try to get rid of the woman like she was a hot potato and was worried I’d be offended. But I wasn’t.
The second time, though, my amusement was lessened as I was reminded that Reed did have a very particular type that he went to time and again, and I wasn’t it. It was a slap-in-your-face kind of reminder that Reed might decide he wants that again, and there’s nothing I can do about that.
Our relationship is, after all, casual.
At any rate, after the second one showed up, Reed tended to steer us over to my house so we wouldn’t be interrupted, and I know he felt bad about it.
Reed, however, insisted I get a TV. I go to sleep early and he’s a night owl. He refuses to sleep in his bed, always joking he likes the convenience of having me close by in the morning. I finally felt guilty enough since he was rearranging a bit of his life for my convenience that I broke down and got one today. And this came only after he ultimately threatened to buy one for me, which I was not about to let him do.
So, like a little kid with his brand-new big toy, he decided to move his Xbox over.
Although Reed might be a big geek when it comes to his electronic toys, we soon discovered he’s not all that great at figuring out how to hook them up. His current dilemma is that he can’t get the Xbox to connect, and I’m pretty sure if he’d just read the directions or Google the issue, the problem would be solved. After that, he needs to figure out how to hook up the HD antenna, and I figured we might be awhile, so I started to cook an early dinner for us.